Valkyria Chronicles 2 (video game)
| genre = Tactical role-playing game | modes = Single-player video game|Single-player, multiplayer video game|multiplayer | ratings = | platforms = PlayStation Portable | media = Universal Media Disc|UMD, Download }} Valkyria Chronicles 2 (戦場のヴァルキュリア2 ガリア王立士官学校 -''Battlefield Valkyria 2: Gallian Royal Military Academy''-) is an upcoming video game for the PlayStation Portable. It is the sequel to the PlayStation 3 title Valkyria Chronicles by Sega. The game was released in Japan in January, followed by the American release on August 31. Story Set two years after the events of Valkyria Chronicles, the story revolves around a civil war within the small Europan nation of Gallia. A rebel group made up of dissatisfied aristocrats and like-minded soldiers and citizens calling themselves the Gallian Revolutionary Army rises up in arms in order to wage an Ethnic cleansing campaign against Gallians of Darcsen descent. However, with the intense fight against the Empire having left Gallia's regular army in an exhausted state, there is initially little to stop the insurrection from gaining momentum. Laws preventing the formation of a national militia to fight fellow Gallians force the government to deploy military academy cadets to the front lines in order to combat and defeat the GRA forces. Among the students sent out on the field is 17-year-old Avan Hardins, a young man who enrolled in Lanseal Military Academy after the death of his older brother, Leon. Characters See List of Valkyria Chronicles characters. Gameplay Many gameplay concepts in Valkyria Chronicles 2 are carried over from the original PS3 game. The BLiTZ system is used during combat scenarios, splitting the action between an overhead Command Mode and third-person Action Mode. By selecting allied units during Command Mode, using Command Points in the process, said units can move and perform actions until their Action Points run out. When the player has exhausted their available Command Points, or volunteers to pass control without using all of them, the Player Phase ends and the Enemy Phase begins. This progresses back and forth until the battle's victory conditions are achieved or the player is defeated. In addition, Valkyria Chronicles 2 utlises a system of multiple area maps connected by enemy encampments. When an enemy camp is captured by the player's forces, subsequent areas are made available, using the camp as a way-point to call in reinforcements and proceed. Similar to the original game, the characters available for use by the player each occupy a specific class. Scouts, Shocktroopers, and Lancers from "Valkyria Chronicles" appear again in the game, along with a modified Support class and a new Armored Tech. This game also introduces a new Class Change system (Japanese: クラスチェンジ). When certain requirements are fulfilled, Classes can change (or more specific, upgrade) into a more powerful class, for example: *Scouts will be able to upgrade into having more AP, or change to become a Sniper firing a sniper rifle, then a semi-auto sniper rifle and eventually an anti-armor rifle, etc. *Shocktroopers, when upgraded, will have the ability to carry 3 more grenades, and eventually equipped with flamethrower. They can, on the other hand, change to become Heavy Machine Gunner, who can spray fire horizontally to damage multiple enemies and have more health. *Lancer will have more health and eventually acquired a heavy lance-rocket which deals more damage to armored vehicles when upgraded. They can also change their class to an anti-personnel specialized class which fires a lance-mortar that can damage multiple enemies. The two new infantry types, Support and Armored Tech, now divide the previous role of Engineer between themselves. *Support are there to assist other units. They can resupply allies' ammunition, carry more potent healing items, and are equipped with tools to repair tanks. However, they are armed only with high-caliber pistols. The Support will gradually learn the ability to revive dead members, heal a large group of allied soldiers. They can change to become the Anthem Crop which play music to buff allies or debuff enemies. *The Armored Tech are soldiers that can disarm mines and repair sandbag emplacements. Armored Tech, however, do not carry a firearm and instead wield a hammer to strike enemies with melee attacks.They move slowly as they carry a large shield into battle that deflects rifle and machine gun fire. With the Class Change system, they can be upgraded into anti-armor or anti-personnel specialists, in which they will wield a shape charge hammer or a huge baster sword respectively. The themes being used for the game are school-life and war, as the students try to juggle their responsibilities as military academy students and as soldiers. It is believed that the themes are based on the success of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. Development It was reported on Famitsu's July issue that a Valkyria Chronicles game was to be developed for the PlayStation Portable. On July 17, 2009, the official Valkyria Chronicles 2 website was launched to the public with the developer's blog and pictures of the game. In a blog post on the official website, executive producer Shuntaro Tanaka has revealed that the game will keep the BLiTZ system with Wireless ad hoc network|wireless ad-hoc to be implemented. In addition, Tanaka said that the game's development for the PSP was done "to allow a broader spectrum of users to discover and enjoy what makes Valkyria special." with the possibility of the game being seen in consoles in the near future. The staff in the development of the game were pulled from the Valkyria Chronicles staff, mainly chief producer Shuntaro Tanaka, character designer Raita Honjo and composer Hitoshi Sakimoto with Take Ozawa being posted as the game's director with previous work done on Valkyria Chronicles as its main planner. Shinji Motoyama is the game's producer, having done production work with the Sega-made Bleach games, as well as Nightshade and Blood Will Tell. Sega revealed at the that the popular J-Pop duo Chemistry will perform the game's opening theme, titled "Our Story". Release An extensive amount of special material was produced by the Valkyria Chronicles 2 staff as bonus items for those players who pre-order the game. First is a reel of bonus footage titled "Valkyria Chronicles 1936: Gallian Front Memoirs." Narrated by Cordelia gi Randgriz, the video summarizes the events of the first game, as well as happenings in the time gap between the two. Similarly, "Gallian Journal 1936" presents background information in the form of a news magazine, with such articles as an interview with the game's antagonist. A limited-edition game soundtrack will also be included. Those who pre-order will also have information with which to unlock Selvaria Bles as a playable character within the game. Further hidden characters were also made available including Welkin and Alicia (the protagonists from the first game), Ramal Valt from the anime, and Mintz and Julius from the Valkyria Chronicles: Wish Your Smile manga. However, Welkin, Alicia, and Ramal are available as a DVD bonus from Volume 6's release in Japan while Mintz and Julius are available after using a special password. It was further announced that Isara, Maximillian, and Faldio are hidden characters, although all three had died during the events of the previous game. A playable demo of the game was made available on the Japanese PlayStation Store on November 2, 2009, with an online download of the same demo following on the 5th. Trivia *While it may be coincidence, the Anthem Corps works in a similar way to the Soldier's Buff Banner in the Valve Software FPS game, Team Fortress 2. It works by allowing team mates to deal more damage by dishing out "Mini-crits" while they are in a radius around the Soldier using it. Unlike the Soldier, the class brandishing the Banner, the Anthem Corps is entirely supportive, while the Soldier is an entirely offensive class, with the Banner only being used after a "Rage" bar has been filled enough. *The means by how the Tank is upgraded bares a heavy resemblance to the Wargaming.net game World of Tanks, though the latter is a third person tank combat game, and the vehicles involved all existed in some form. Category:Games